Bauman and Berger: Inspiration for All

What could 27-year-old Jeff Bauman and 87-year-old Stephen Berger possibly have in common?

Different generations, different backgrounds, different lives--the two seem worlds apart.

But if you take yourself to the College Center to hear Bauman's talk on Monday, Nov. 3 (11 a.m.) and Berger's talk on Wednesday, Nov. 12 (2 p.m.), you'll discover why they're alike--and why their stories, while harrowing, are also inspirational.

Despite their outward differences, both men share a unique experience: they have looked into the face of evil and refused to be intimidated and defeated.

Jeff Bauman was an ordinary 27-year old who'd shown up to watch the Boston Marathon in April 2013.  As he stood near the finish line, cheering on his girlfriend, two terrorist bombs exploded, killing several spectators and seriously wounding many others.  Bauman was among those injured, losing both his legs, his life changed forever.

But despite the severity of his injury, he was able to share a description of one of the bombers--information that proved critical in authorities' efforts to track down those responsible. And after undergoing several operations, he has become an inspiration to thousands, the author of a book ("Stronger") about his experiences and a voice for the spirit of determination and for a positive approach to life.

Stephen Berger was 16 years old when he was deported by the Nazis from his native Hungary to a forced labor camp in Vienna. Until the end of World War II, he lived from day to day, witnessing atrocities, brutality, starvation, and death.  He himself had several close calls, escaping death sometimes merely by chance or the intervention of another.

Though more than twenty members of Berger's family perished in the Holocaust, Berger refused to remain a victim.  Immediately following the war, he helped survivors relocate. And for more than half a century, he's spoken to people of all ages, including students, about not only the evil of the Holocaust but the importance of remembering the lessons of the past.

"I worry a lot," he told a group of high school students last year, "because the Holocaust isn't unique in human history and genocides are happening today while we speak."

In troubled times, we often need people to inspire us, to reassure us, to teach us about courage, and to encourage us to be guided by our better angels.  Bauman and Berger do all of these things. Though their experiences are different, separated by time and place and circumstance, they remind us that there are still good people in the world and that we are all in this life together.